Reasons to Visit Orlando

Few people need specific reasons to visit Orlando (usually they already want to go). Even so, I decided to list some of the most important reasons to justify that getaway to the land of Mickey, shopping, shows, rich and varied cuisine, sporting events, and entertainment.
Reasons are listed below and addressed more in depth:

Experience the Incredible Attraction of Magic Kingdom Park:

If you visited Disney before, you’ve probably been to the new area of Magic Kingdom, called New Fantasy-land. This area was amazing, with the beautiful restaurant at Be Our Guest Restaurant, Gaston’s Tavern for quick meals, the new attraction of the Little Mermaid, called Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid, and the new version revitalised the classic Dumbo attraction.

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Disney’s Magic Kingdom. This attraction is still quite new and requested, so you have an idea, I arrived at the Magic Kingdom Park opening hours (9am) on my recent trip and went directly to this attraction, the queue was huge and practically reached tomorrow land Speedway, and the display indicated 60 minutes of waiting.

Visit the Diagon Alley Area at Universal Studios Florida:

If you have ever experienced the main attraction of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, known as Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, you know that this is possibly one of the best attractions of all the parks in the Orlando area. So it is only natural that expectations are high in relation to the new addition of the world of Harry Potter to the Universal Orlando Resort.

The Diagon Alley was installed in the oldest park, Universal Studios Florida, and part of this new area includes a train that allows you to go from one park to another, provided you have the Park-to-Park option on your Ticket, if you do not have it, you can add it to the booths of any of the train stations. In addition to the train, called The Hogwarts Express, stores were opened, a restaurant, and also a new attraction within the Harry Potter theme, the main being Harry Potter and the Escape From Gringotts, which is a 3-D roller coaster, or Multi-dimensional, as Universal prefers to call.

Epcot’s International Flower & Garden Festival:

Epcot Gardens flowered during the International Flower & Garden Festival. The festival of gardens and flowers that takes place annually in Epcot between March and May attracts thousands of people, initially for leaving Epcot even more flowery and with beautiful topiary. More recently new attractions have been added, such as concerts with well-known bands and artists as well as the themed tents in the style of Epcot’s other fantastic festival, the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival.

Epcot’s International Food & Wine Festival:

International Food and Wine Festival, This is probably the largest and most important annual festival of all Walt Disney World. In it you can enjoy cooking and wine seminars; savour the cuisine of different places of the world, with its more than 30 themed stalls, there is one (or more) cuisine for every taste imaginable. Not to mention the bands and artists that performs daily at the Food & Wine Festival. I’ve already been able to watch live at Epcot at their Food & Wine Festival to the following artists: Taylor Dayne, Starship featuring Mickey Thomas, and also Sister Hazel. It is worth remembering that this all has no additional cost whatsoever, meaning you only pay the normal entrance fee in the park and all this additional entertainment is free.

Renovate the Wardrobe:

If you’re like me and you’ve done the math, you’ve discovered that it’s worth spending a little longer without buying clothes to give that new one in the wardrobe when traveling to Orlando. This is because; the difference in price and quality is enormous.

Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party:

Park buildings look special during Mickey’s Halloween Party; it is an event that happens on specific dates annually in the Magic Kingdom Park. The party usually takes place between 7pm and 1am in the morning. Visitors who have not opted for the party on the days it takes place need to leave the park until 7:00 PM. Only stay in Magic Kingdom after 7:00 pm who has bought the special ticket for Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party.
One valuable tip we got from the Disney Tourist Blog was that anyone who has the Halloween party ticket Mickey is already accepted in the park from 4pm, without spending a day of his normal park ticket.

This is really something to consider because many people will not be able to hold out until the end of the event if they have arrived at the Magic Kingdom in their morning opening hours, so it is not worth it to spend a day of park tickets only after not enjoying the party From Mickey’s Halloween to the end. In this event the Magic Kingdom changes its appearance completely with a totally special lighting that is only turned on the days and times of the event. If you’ve been to Magic Kingdom during the Halloween period but not at this event, you have not seen anything, it’s only during the event that the special decoration shows your face. There is also a special event parade, which usually takes place 2 times a night and is called Mickey’s Boo to You Halloween Parade. This parade is so interesting that it is worth to watch it 2 times in the same night.

Other differentials are rare characters available for park-like photography, dance events with Disney story villains, Trick-or-treating candy distribution. On this day, everyone can go to the park in costume. Usually only children are admitted to Disney parks with full costumes to avoid confusion regarding who is a Disney costume worker, and visitors who have decided to visit the parks with their costumes. To conclude, the fireworks show of this day is also special for the Mickey’s Halloween Party, in addition to having projections in the special castle and a special “choreography” of the fires, there is also something that is quite different, fires fired in the perimeter of the park.

Stay in a Rented Home and Feel at Home:

Staying in hotels when travelling can be really cool. But hotels have their limitations and weaknesses.

Some of them are:

• Size of available space,
• Convenience of travel between your car and your room,
• Lack of a common but private space to meet friends and family,
• Lack of a refrigerator to store items bought in markets (or too small refrigerator),
• Lack of stove and microwave to prepare your favourite foods,
• Lack of washer and dryer to allow you to travel with a smaller baggage (on the way, because on the return you will certainly return more loaded).

By choosing to stay in a temporary rental home you have access to all of the above items and more. The living room, kitchen, backyard and swimming pool of the house become a private meeting place with family and friends when you travel in large groups. When you stays in a hotel the lobby or someone’s room ends up serving as a meeting point for the group. Discover the many benefits of staying in a temporary rental home in Orlando, Florida

Participate in a Race at Disney:

Disney is one of the best places to take part in a race, be it 5km or even a marathon. They have events of this type throughout the year. There are even hikes and challenges where children can also participate. Races even go inside the Disney parks and the characters are always present to motivate you during the event by distributing “High Fives”.

The Ride-3D at Universal Orlando Resort:

It is a 3-dimensional attraction that fuses a motion simulator with a very high resolution film. It has some similarity to the Spider-Man attraction in the park next door, but with newer, more impressive technology.

Empire of the Penguin:

The new themed area and attraction of the Sea World Park is worth a visit. The attraction itself has two parts, at first you walk in a kind of high-tech stroller without rails, which practically dance in choreography with the other strollers that are in attraction at the same time. You are taken in the midst of a reconstitution of the penguin habitat, after which you watch a movie, still inside the carts on a giant screen. In the second stage of this attraction, you disembark from the carts and enter an area where you can see the real penguins. The area is very cold, at a temperature that appeals to penguins. The remainder of the theme area, which is not very large, is comprised of a souvenir shop within the theme and a restaurant that mimics a station in Antarctica. The restaurant has several different types of food.

Make a Meal in a Restaurant with the Disney Characters:

All people visiting Disney should, at least once in their life, make a meal where the characters come to the table for photos. In addition to this it facilitates contact and pictures with the characters without the standby time standing, which is common in meeting places with the characters, but also the food is often full and delicious. There are several restaurants with this feature throughout WDW, both inside and outside the parks. Some examples are:

These restaurants usually offer buffets in the All-You-Can-Eat style, where you eat everything and at ease. Others, such as the Garden Grill, often offer Family-Style service, where food is brought to the table with good variety, and when you want more of some or more items, just ask the waiter to bring more at no additional cost.

Orlando Magical Dining:

If there were not enough reasons to visit Orlando, there is also the Orlando Magical Dining Month, which runs throughout September in Orlando.

Take a Balloon Ride:

There are a few options for you to take balloon rides through the Orlando area. From the traditional ones, where you take off from a predetermined location and land in an unknown location, until a more tamed version, where you take off and land in exactly the same place, because the balloon is anchored to the ground. This second option happens in the area of entertainment, shopping and restaurants of Disney, Downtown Disney (which after the renovation that is happening, will be called Disney Springs). In this attraction, called Characters in Flight, you climb the equivalent of a 40-story building, and have a great view from above, not just Downtown Disney and Walt Disney World Resort, but also the whole area.

Tasting various types of Food and Various Corners of the Planet:

In any trip it is possible to taste different types of food, especially if the trip goes to the United States. But if your trip is to Orlando, food choices of all kinds and all origins are even more plentiful. Just as an example, let’s consider the part of Epcot called World Showcase, only there are pavilions of 11 countries. Each with at least one restaurant with not only typical but also authentic country food represented. Even the workers of these restaurants are from the country represented, which further increases the authenticity. And that’s just talking about a Disney park. The Orlando area as a whole owns virtually any type of food you can imagine and from just about anywhere in the world. The next time that you’re annoying and ill-informed friend returns from a trip to Orlando saying that you only eat Burger and Hot Dog, you should advise him to research better before travelling.

Watch a Game of the Orlando Magic:

If you go to Orlando between November and May, keep an eye on the Orlando Magic’s home game schedule, and even if you’re not a fan of basketball and sports in general. This is because going to a game of the Orlando Magic is an incredible experience that appeals even to those who are not usually interested in attending sporting events normally.

Only the stadium itself is already a phenomenal attraction. It is impressive both its size and its infrastructure. The Amway centre looks like a large shopping mall, with its escalators, numerous shops and fast food restaurants. Already the game is a show, both before beginning and at all intervals, especially the main interval, which happens between the second and third quarters.

The screens are impressive for their high definition and synchronism of images of all types; there are screens of various sizes and formats, including circling the stadium at the edges of the stands.

Attend the Blue Man Group Show:

This show, which can be watched in the other entertainment, shopping and eating district, the City Walt, Universal Orlando Resort, is different enough from La Nouba to justify a visit in each of them. While La Nouba has a giant team of actors and musicians, in the case of the Blue Man Group, the whole show is led by the 3 blue men, besides they are still the musicians, who play a spectacular role with their skeleton clothes playing in black light. It’s a show higher up than La Nouba, younger too, you might say. The two shows are fantastic, if you are interested in a more in-depth comparison to help you choose one of the two shows, read our article that puts La Nouba and the Blue Man Group face-to-face.

Getting on the Giant Wheel Orlando Eye:

You can see Orlando from above on the Orlando Eye, which is the same group as the London Eye. Like the cousin on the other side of the Atlantic, the Orlando Eye is a huge Ferris wheel with capsules that hold several people. The Ferris wheel is so high it allows a 360 degree panoramic view of the whole area, and since this area is flat, you can see a huge distance from these capsules.

Author Bio:

Yousuf A. Raza is a content strategist and digital marketing expert at Dream World Travel, Ltd. He helps his clients to get better visibility online through digital marketing. You can reach him at Facebook & Twitter.